Late for Tee

Many dads have had the situation of wanting to do something fun with their daughters, but all they want to do is have imaginary tea parties with their dad and dolls. With no offense intended for your little princesses, this design is for you.

This design came out of nowhere. So much so that I didn’t even sketch it. I imagined it in my mind (and was stuck at home with a plumber who was redoing some piping) and I sat down and created it.

Drafts

I made a simple pattern at first. It took a while to get it to repeat but also to look like a real golf ball. I looked at countless pictures of golf balls to figure out the webbed design.

How Adobe Illustrator works is once you have a pattern, you can stick it wherever you want. The only problem with it is that it spits out the pattern exactly how you designed it. Which is good unless you need it to wrap like a golf ball. By using a fish-eye envelope distort which can be found in the program, I was able to make it bend the way I wanted. The new problem was that it was no longer a circle. I fixed that using a clipping mask (imagine a digital cookie cutter) and made the circle. You can see them side-by-side above. If you look closely, the pattern is in the same spot, but I basically cut off the outer edges.

Final Product

After finishing the golf ball, it didn’t take too long to complete. I adjusted the pattern a few more times, I roughened the grass underneath to give the feeling of being on the green, and I added highlights and shadows to make it more realistic. Now you can still be your little princess’s tea party buddy, but you can stand your ground that you are ready for your tee time afterward.

The final product is below, and it can be purchased on my online storefronts.